Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
When I woke the next morning, Max was gone. On the bed beside my pillow, he’d left a thumb drive with my photos and a diary. My clue.
After we’d fallen asleep, I dreamed of sharp nails dragging down dark skin and witches burning at the stake. Waking up alone amplified an emptiness that wouldn’t abate until I finished this.
Until I won The Quest.
With everyone meeting once the parents arrived later, to kick off the Final Trial, I needed to distract myself from the big feelings in my chest. I grabbed my lockbox from under my pillow and went outside.
I had to catch up on my clues, and escaping to the lake, while still close enough to the house, seemed like a smarter way to focus.
Pulling out all the items I’d stored inside, I examined the diary first, then I reached for the scrap of paper Kingston had handed me in his office the night before Ben attacked me.
I read the clue aloud. “I inspect what gets cut but never bleeds, has hands but does not grab, what may be licked but not eaten, and what grows inside and under the sun.”
It was vague as fuck.
And I couldn’t fathom why that surprised me.
I read it about fifty more times while sitting cross-legged on the lawn, and I considered my options.
Diamonds were cut but didn’t bleed. Clocks had hands that didn’t grab. But I couldn’t figure out what would be licked but not eaten.
I doubted the clue led to Max’s abs.
The last line made me think of a greenhouse, but I didn’t know where to find one inside Camelot Court.
What did a girl have to do to find a map of this hellhole?
My eyes widened. Merle had already given me one before the Honor Challenge. I’d need to look through my bag and see if I still had it.
I growled at the tiny scrap of paper in my hands. “What the hell do you mean?”
A soft chuckle behind me alerted me to Izzy’s presence. She sat on the lawn beside me. “No luck?”
I groaned. “Not yet, unfortunately. Are we allowed to put our heads together?”
“They didn’t say we couldn’t, but I’m not sure it would help us much.” She nodded toward the clue on my scrap of paper. “Our clues are different.”
“Oh.” I wondered why and how they differed, and how they’d align to get us to the same place, but I didn’t need to know any of that. “At least there’s no time crunch, right?”
Laughing again, she leaned back on her elbows and turned her face toward the sun. “None at all.”
I eyed her relaxed posture, cocking my head as I stared at her. Eventually, either curious as to my silence or feeling the heat of my stare, she cracked open an eye to peek at me.
“What’s wrong?”
I gestured to her casual pose. “You look oddly relaxed for someone playing the same cryptic and life-altering game as me. What gives?”
She shrugged. Sitting up, she brushed the grass off her arms and stared out at the lake. “Ever since meeting Tristan, sometimes I just tire of playing, you know? Following their rules. Doing exactly what I’m supposed to do.”
“I get that.”
“When that happens, I like to play this game I made up instead. Imagine what my life would be like if it were a fantasy novel. Or a contemporary romance. Monster erotica, when I’m in that kind of mood.” We shared a laugh. “Anything but this, really.”
“That’s why you and Gia get along so well. She has similar eclectic tastes in her books.”
Izzy smiled broadly. “She seems great. You’re lucky to have a friend like her.”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I’d do anything for her. And her, for me.”
Izzy had mentioned distrust between her and the other girls at Camelot Court.
I’d seen them all get along, but the bond I shared with Gia was harder to come by.
When you didn’t know who might sell you out or stab you in the back, and when you understood the pressure they faced, it was harder to have that kind of friendship.
“I can’t imagine not having her, Izzy. That must’ve been really lonely.”
“Yeah.” She forced a smile. “So, anyway. I close my eyes, and then I’m a princess being rescued by my Knight. Or a warrior fae, rescuing him. Different each time, but it always leads back to the same place. Who started the game for me.”
Her lower lip trembled, and she bent her knees and leaned forward to rest her head on top of them.
I reached out slowly and touched her back, and when her body shuddered, wracked by quiet tears, I trailed my fingers back and forth to soothe her.
The way my Knight, who’d started this game for me, had always done when I needed it.
While we sat there, I traced Landon’s familiar pattern on Izzy’s back, soothing myself with the gentle motions.
Eventually, she sat up, and her watery smile compelled me to wrap her in a hug.
She sniffled. “Thanks, Quinn. It’s nice to have a friend here.”
“It’s been really nice to have a friend here, for me, too.”
Glancing over her shoulder, she nodded to the house. “Our parents will be here soon. Are you going to wait out here until the introduction?”
With a grimace, I nodded. “Yeah, meeting parents sounds fun, but I’m not touching that with a ten-foot pole.”
She laughed at our inside joke, got to her feet, and smiled at me before she headed back inside.
As I watched her go, I thought of Landon and what he’d shared about his father. I expected I’d meet him once the parents arrived, and that the experience would be as joyous as meeting Kingston and Max’s fathers.
Gratitude for mine filled my chest, and I refocused on my clue, hoping to solve it and make him proud.
When I gathered with the Ladies and Knights on the back lawn, I scanned the group for Max but didn’t find him. Parents arrived while we waited for Kingston to give his introduction speech.
They took their places around our small circle, and I couldn’t shake the feeling of eyes on my back.
News about Ben’s death, my uncomfortable showdown with Merle, and my statements against their characters hung awkwardly in the air.
But as they said in the biz, “The Show Must Go On.”
Morty’s words—not mine.
So, even with emotions running high, we pressed onward to the Final Trial. I refused to dwell on what had happened with Ben, with Merle, or with Max.
When the latter walked up to take his place beside Vivian, he greeted her in front of everyone as if he hadn’t spent the night in my bed.
I hated it, but I didn’t react.
Eyes on the prize, I had one job to do and far too much riding on the line to be distracted now.
Holding onto what we shared, I faced forward as Kingston took his place in front of us and began his speech.
“This morning, your Knight will hand each of you the last clue in the Scavenger Hunt. Tomorrow morning, you face the Obstacle Course. Through it, you’ll encounter physical challenges, but you’ll also receive what you need to piece all of your clues together and spell out the location of the Final Trial.
You can begin any time you are ready. And the first of you who makes it to the end and secures what awaits there… ”
Kingston met my gaze, and a mix of nerves and excitement thrummed through me.
“She will be named the Queen of Camelot Court.”
Murmurs ran through the crowd, and Kingston waited for everyone to settle before continuing.
“Remember, Ladies. While the Nobility Challenge began with the Scavenger Hunt, it is not for the faint of heart. For centuries, being noble meant being close to God, and while the Camelot Society doesn’t draw on the more pious aspects of nobility, our competition demands one important quality, shared by religion, from its Queen. ”
Our eyes locked, and I realized what he’d been telling me.
Faith.
“To Protect with Nobility requires faith in that which you cannot see at first glance. It’s trusting your instincts and yourself even without all the answers—or, in Camelot Court’s way, with almost no answers.
It’s honoring the truth you hold inside you, even when life throws information and obstacles at you from all sides.
And it’s fighting with courage through fear and uncertainty, even when you feel lost in the dark. ”
I took a deep breath, emotion lodging in my throat as pieces of the prior challenges fell into place.
“To win—to be noble—you must protect, with faith, what is yours at all costs. Even when the battle is quiet instead of a loud and bloody war. Even when you stand alone instead of with your Knights beside you. In the face of doubt, you must have faith. That is the only path to true power.” He met my gaze. “To have what it takes to be Queen.”
Elaine, missing the gravity of the moment and Kingston’s speech, interrupted on my right. “When can we use our Secret Questions? I have, like, three, so I’m sure that’ll help.”
Kingston’s slightly brittle smile drew a grin from me.
“Because of an incident yesterday, Merle has passed his role to Morty Dread, who will step in and take his place.”
I searched the crowd, eyes narrowing when I spotted Morty rocking on his heels and waving to the parents. Returning to Kingston, I hoped for a sign that his pointed refusal to meet my gaze assured me wouldn’t come.
Then I glanced at Max.
He stood glowering in his brother’s direction, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a bad omen.
Last night, before we’d fallen asleep, I remembered what he’d said about my escape from Ben being lucky. I’d shared how Morty gave me the knife. And Max’s fierce warning not to trust his brother still echoed in my head.
Morty had been a giant question mark on the trust fall scale at Camelot Court, even with everything I’d pieced together, and the ways I’d realized he’d protected me, Max assured me his motives and alignment rarely showed until it was too late.
I didn’t know enough of their history to understand why, but I trusted Max, so whether I’d use my Secret Questions remained up in the air.
“Our parents have arrived for the Obstacle Course and the last party of The Quest, which takes place tomorrow night. While it’s been common during the events of Alumni Week for progress to pause, that won’t be required this year because of its delay and timing change.”
He dropped that morsel of information as if it meant nothing, but his message was loud and clear.
If parental pressure dictated their actions as much through Alumni Weekend as it had through everything else, I wouldn’t have the same expectations the others did.
Gia’s parents, following my arrest, had decided to stay home.
Her dad was building a case in my defense and wanted to avoid a conflict of interest, but Gia would arrive this afternoon.
While she gave Camelot Court a run for its money, I’d do what I needed to do.
Which meant that during the party, the one thing my biggest adversaries had thrown in my face repeatedly—my lack of parents—could be what gave me the lead.
My chance to get ahead. To win.
When Kingston signaled to the Knights, they approached each of us, including Morty, who took Ben’s place in front of Camille. As Landon waited for Kingston’s next signal, I side-eyed Morty. His dark brown eyes sparkled with mischief, and until I figured out what he was up to, I couldn’t trust him.
Because, good or bad, Morty was up to something.
I met Landon’s gaze. “If I have a chance to win during the party, I’ll need to go to him, won’t I?”
Landon kept his voice down so only I heard him. “You might. Do you think you can trust him?”
“I don’t know. He gave me the knife, but how had he known I’d need to use it?” I chewed on my lip, too afraid to mention my night with Max without being overheard. “Hopefully, I won’t need to use the Secret Questions at all. And it’ll be fine.”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “It’ll be fine.”
“Totally fine.” With a rush of nervous laughter, we shared a smile. I shook my head in disbelief. “I can’t believe we’re finally at the end.”
His grin changed, losing any trace of unease and filling with pride. “I had no doubt you’d make it here. Not once, Maiden. I hope you know that.”
Emotion swelled in my chest, thinking of how far we’d come since the first challenge.
How far I’d come, too.
“I do, Buns.” I returned his fervent smile, words rising on the tip of my tongue that finally had to be let out. “Landon, I—”
But Kingston cleared his throat, and Landon took my hand, leaning in to place a kiss on my cheek.
His lips lingered on my skin, warming my whole body with a single touch, and the gentle rumble of his voice in my ear assured me that even if I never got the chance to say it out loud, it didn’t matter. Landon saw everything.
And he knew it.
He’d always known.
“I love you, too, My Lady.” Pulling back slowly, he held my stare before bowing his head. When he released my hand, he left behind the scrap of paper bearing my first clue. “Now, go do what you have to do, so the next time I say those words, I can address you properly.”
Blinking away more tears, I nodded.
The enormity of the moment with him, with The Quest—all of it hit me at once.
While the other Ladies and Knights disbanded, I closed my eyes and drew in one slow, deep inhale.
I needed to catch my breath to make it to the end.
As I released a slower exhale, Landon tipped my chin up and winked. “That’s my good girl.”
I beamed at him, feeling lighter than I thought possible, as the end of The Quest began.